Samsung Sued For Battery Life: could shake up the entire Android industry

K. Mirza LCC, a patent licensing company, just filed a lawsuit against Samsung. She claims that the manufacturer is illegally using technology to predict battery life. This basic functionality has been developed by an independent Dutch research institute.

It’s not uncommon for big names in Tech to be sued for fraudulent and illegal use of certain technologies. In February 2022, a US university accused Google of stealing some of its Android code. The school alleged that Google engineers had illegally misused a patent related to a system for detecting bugs in power management. But on this Monday, June 6, 2022, it’s the turn Samsung sued.

Indeed, K. Mizra LLC, a patent licensing company, alleges that the South Korean company stole a system that makes it possible to predict the remaining autonomy according to the habits of the user.
According to K. Mizra LLC, who filed the complaint on May 20, 2022, this pre-installed feature on Android was actually developed by the Dutch research institute Dutch Organized for Applied Science Research (TNO). Also read: Apple Watch – a company files complaint against Apple for theft of patents

Potentially disastrous consequences for Samsung and the industry

In particular, a patent filed by the institute mentions a feature intended for “advanced on-the-fly prediction of the remaining battery life of a mobile device such as a smartphone”. The company K. Mizra adds that the prediction is based on algorithms that analyze user behavior. The plaintiff alleges that “Samsung mobile devices using newer versions of the Android operating system infringe the German designation” of this patent. Details that determine the outcome of this case could have implications for the entire smartphone industry.

Indeed, Samsung is not alone in using this battery life prediction technology. It can also be found on the Google Pixel and many Xiaomi smartphones. As you will have understood, the consequences of this legal action could be serious for Samsung and for other players in the industry using the same (or similar) technology.